SAN FRANCISCO – The journey to get this far was so exhausting and exhilarating that the Giants barely had time to consider where they fit into the playoffs.

One moment they were falling out of contention, the next instant Matt Bryant was drilling a game-winning field goal to send them skipping merrily into the postseason.

And now they’re here, poised to take on the 49ers in today’s NFC Wild-Card game at Candlestick Park, a hot team on the road hoping the groundswell of momentum that carried them on a late-season surge as a shelf-life of at least one more game.

“We deserve to be in the situation we’re at, we fought hard to be here,” said Jeremy Shockey. “And we understand if we lose this game it’s over.”

An aura of confidence accompanied the Giants on their charter flight, a confidence born out of four consecutive victories, a return to health and a pedal-to-the-metal surge that could not have been choreographed more fortuitously if Jim Fassel had himself planned the dance steps.

The Giants do not fill the cliched role of upstart wild card going up against the big, bad division winner. To the contrary, the Giants at 10-6 look at themselves, then glance at the Niners at 10-6, and believe they are at least as worthy to be here.

“We have the same record as they do,” receiver Amani Toomer said. “If we were in their division we would have won it or came close. This whole playoffs, there’s no team like the Rams a couple of years ago or the old 49ers or old Cowboys, there’s no team just running through, and the playoffs are just a technicality.”

Many of the Giants have not been this way before, as 30 of them will make their playoff debut today, many in crucial positions.

Shockey as a rookie is a newcomer to the postseason. Will Allen and Will Peterson, the second-year cornerbacks entrusted to contain dangerous Terrell Owens, are first-timers. Center Chris Bober and left guard Rich Seubert have not laid a block in the playoffs. This is uncharted territory for Bryant and punter Matt Allen.

“This team has energy, they are younger and they have energy,” said Fassel, who addressed his team yesterday following a 45-minute walk-through. “We don’t have a lot of guys who have been in the playoffs. I am not afraid of the playoffs being too big for these guys.”

Lately, nothing’s been too big for the Giants, but they have a stiff task ahead. On defense, they must first do what they do best, which is stop the running game of Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow, which won’t be easy. Next, the Giants must harass Jeff Garcia, the cagey quarterback who’s almost impossible to sack and difficult to fluster.

The Giants know all about Owens and how disruptive he can be if he gets involved early.

“It gets him all fired up, eager to play the next play, eager to get the ball in his hands again to see what he’s going to do,” Jason Sehorn said.

The 49ers have a quality defense, but not a dominating one, and the Giants are averaging 25.7 points in their last nine games, starting to hum the moment Fassel took over the play-calling.